Marker Making, Planning, Efficiency and Use of CAD
Md.Tanvirul Haque Bhuiyan
Dept. of Apparel Manufacturing,
National Institute of Textile Engineering & Research (NITER), Savar, Dhaka.
Email: mukutex@gmail.com
Marker:
Generally we know, marker is a thin piece of paper that contains all the required pattern pieces of all sizes for a specific style of garments.
According to Glock and Kunz, “A marker is a diagram of a precise arrangement of pattern pieces for sizes of a specific style that are to be cut from in one spread.”
So, a maker is a schematic of the graded pattern pieces that is used as a cutting guide. When produced by experienced marker makers, a marker will optimize the usage of your fabric and improve overall cutting quality.
Marker Making and Planning :
Marker making means adjusting and drawing according to pattern pieces on the marker paper. Marker planning is the process of plotting all the pattern pieces for all the sizes of a particular style of garment on a thin piece of paper. The marker planner makes a plan for each pattern and its position on marker paper to ensure better efficiency. It can be done manually or using CAD system.
In case of manual marker making time, skill and concentration are required for making a efficient marker. Factories those don’t have CAD system perform this process manually.
According to Glock and Kunz, “Marker making is the process of determining a most efficient layout of pattern pieces for a style, fabric and distribution of sizes.”
Use of CAD:
In computerized marker making method, CAD (Computer Aided Design) system is used. Computer Aided Design (CAD) becomes an essential tool for pattern making and related jobs in garment industry. In apparel industry CAD Software is used for pattern making, Grading of pattern, marker making and digitizing manual patterns.
At first by using CAD marker planning is done in the computer, then according to that plan a printed marker paper comes out of the plotter. Plotter is used to print the pattern pieces on marker paper.
Though the use of CAD is costly, but the use of CAD is increasing in our country, because markers can be transferred via email, decreasing shipping costs and improving turnaround time markers are archived on our system and readily available for reprinting; having the ability to issue markers to one or more factories allows for more flexibility computerized production markers optimize the layout of pattern pieces to minimize waste and maximize profits markers can be used for computer cutting or hand cutting
Widely used CAD systems in the apparel industry are listed below,
- Modaris by Lectra Systems (used in Bangladesh)
- AccuMark Pattern Design Software by Gerber Technology (used in Bangladesh)
- Optitex Pattern Design software by Optitex
- CAD.Assyst by Human Solution Assyst AVM
- TUKAcad by Tukateck Inc.
- Fashion Cad by Cad Cam Solutions Australia Pty. Ltd
- SDS-ONE APEX3 from Shima Seiki
- PAD System
Marker efficiency:
Success of marker planner is measured from the efficiency of marker plan. Marker efficiency is defined as a ratio of area of marker used in a garment and area of total marker.
According to Glock and Kunz , “Marker efficiency is determined from fabric utilization, the percentage of total fabric that is actually used in garment parts.”
Glock and Kunz also said in their book that, marker efficiency and Fabric utilization is not same thing. In marker efficiency calculation fabric wastage due to end bits and end loss is not included but in fabric utilization calculation all kinds of fabric wastage are included.
Calculation of Marker Efficiency:
Calculation of marker efficiency is explained below with formula.
General formula using area,
Area of pattern in the marker plan: CAD system automatically calculates total area of garment pattern pieces placed in a marker. So, we get the area of marker that is consumed by garments from CAD system.
Total area of marker plan: Total marker area can be calculated by multiplying marker length by marker width.
In manual marker it is difficult to measure surface area of garments patterns in a marker. You can use a mechanical device, Planimeter, to calculate the surface area of pattern pieces from outlines of the pattern pieces.
Another method can be practiced to calculate marker efficiency when you don’t have CAD system or Planimeter. Calculate ratio of weight of fabric consumed by pattern pieces and total weight fabric under total marker area. So a separate formula is used to find marker efficiency.
Formula using weight,
Weight of garment parts: To calculate weight of garment parts cut one layer of fabric according to markers and weigh all garment parts that are included in a marker.
Weight of marker total area: Measure weight of fabric (one layer) of total marker area.
References:
- Apparel Manufacturing, Glock and Kunz
- http://www.modadevida.com
- http://www.onlineclothingstudy.com
- https://sites.google.com/site/fashionsocialnetwork/fashion-research/marker-making-clothing
- http://www.gerbertechnology.com
- http://www.lectra.com
You may also like:
- Methods of Drawing and Duplicating a Marker
- Quality Control and Inspection in Marker Making
- Important Factors of Marker Efficiency
- Constraints of Marker Making in Apparel Production
- Techniques or Methods of Marker Making
Founder & Editor of Textile Learner. He is a Textile Consultant, Blogger & Entrepreneur. Mr. Kiron is working as a textile consultant in several local and international companies. He is also a contributor of Wikipedia.
